Sharp County record., 1887-04-14

;.ofned. and the cultured, and the educat-
ed: but alas for the great multldude Oh Ine
children of the abandoned anu
the lost! A few of them are gaVnereu
into our Sabbath-schools, what ABOUT 'ns
70 coo destitute children of New orK' anu
the score of thousands OF destitute 0hli-
dren of Brooklyn, around Whom are
thrown no benign, and Heavenly, anu
| Christian influences? 1t is tremendous
question. what is to become OF the uestF
tute children of these cities' we musV
either act on them or they will act on US
We must either Christianize them or tney
will heatheni,e US. 1t is question nou
more for the Christian than for the phll-
osopher and statesman.
Oh! If we could have allthese sunerlns
little ones gathered together, what scene
of hunger, and wretchedness, ana rags,
and sin, and trouble, and darkness
If we could see those lite feet on
the broad road to death, which, through
Christian charity, ought to be press
ing the narrow path Of lie; II we
could hear those voices in 0lasphemS,
which ought to he singing the praise VI
God: if we could see those little hearts,
which at that age ought not to be solleu
with one unclean thought becoming the
sewers for every abominatlon; II we
could see these suffering little ones sacrl-
feed on the altar of every iniqultous pas
sion, and baptized with fire from the lava
of the pit, we would recoil, crying out:
"Ayaunt, thou dream of hell!'
They are not always going to be chill
dren. They are coming up to be the men
and women of this country. That spark
of iniuuity that might now be put out
with one drop of the water Of life Will be-
come the confagratiOn of every green
thing that God ever planted in the soul
That which ought to have been temple
of the Holy Ghost will become Scared
and blistered ruin-every fight quenched
and every altar in the dust That petty
thief, who slips into your stores and
takes a yard of your cloth from your
counter, will become the highwayman OF
the forest, or the burglar at midnight,
picking the lock of your money-safe and
blowing up your store to hide the vlllainy.
A great army, with staggering step, and
bloodshot eye and drunken hoot, they are
coming on-gathering recruits from every
grog- shop and den of infamy in the land,
to take the ballot-box and hurrah at the
elections.
The hard-knuckled fist of ruflanism will
have more power than the gentle hand OF
intelligence and sobrlety Men, bloated,
and with the signature OF SIN burned in
: from the top OF the forehead to the bottom
of the chin, will look honest men out OF
countenance. Moral corpses, which ought
to be buried a hundred feet deep to keep
them from poisoning the air, will rot in
the face of the sun at monday. Industry,
in her plain frock will be unap-
preciated, while thousands of men
will wander around IN idleness, with their
hands on their hips, saying: THE world
owes US living" o, what tremendous
power there is in iniquity when unedu-
Gated, and unrestrained, and unblanched
it goes on concentrating, and deepening
and widening, and gathering momentum,
until it swings ahead with very triumph
of desolation, drowning like surges,
scorching like flames, crushing like rocks
What are you going to do with this
abandoned population of the streets'
Will you gather them in your churches
1t Is not the will of your Heavenly Father
that one of these little ones should perish
} II you have ten respectable children in
your class, gather in ten that are not re-
spectacle. Ii in your Bible class there
, he twenty young men who have
come from Christian homes and ele-
CANT surroundings, let those twenty young
men go out and gather in twenty more OF
| ~ Of ba oil tu ho r
God and lost to society This outside pop
ulation, unless educated and restrained,
will work error in ages that are to come.
a Another characteristic of live church
e is one with appropriate architecture In
0 the far West and amid destitute popula.
| tons a log church is very appropriate
e the people living in log houses. But ir
a communities where people live in com,
l Portable abodes, church uncommodious
or lacking in beauty is moral nuisance
Because Christ was born in manger is NJ
reason why we should worship him in a
barn.
Let the churches of Jesus Christ be mo-
only comfortable, but ornate. Years agC
. we resolved to have comfortable church
= We resolved that it should be amphitheat
rical in shape. The prominent architect s
of the country, after figuring on the mat
ter good while, said that such church
would not be churchly, and they would
have nothing to do with the enterprise
But after awhile we found an architect
Il willing to risk his reputation. He put W
for US the first tabernacle in amphitheat
u rical style. We liked it. All who came
liked it. This building followed in the
same style. We believe it is appropriate
! and adapted.
An angular church will have an angul al
theology. The Church of Jesus Chris
ought to be great family circle, the pul
u pit only the fireplace around which they
!. !. are gathered in sweet and domestic com
! munlon. But when our first tabernacle
- went up, the caricature and the scoff
ingl They said:
= = 'It's hippodrome It's holy circus
- It's Talmage's theater"
But the Lord came down with powel
Il upon that old building, and made it thu
gate of Heaven to great many. And thi.
building followed That we were right II
persistng in the style of architecture i!
u proved by the fact that there sixty or sew
y enty churches in the United States IN thu
!, same style. Indeed, our tabernacle has
= revolutionized church architecture in thi,
= country. A live church must have a com
modious, comfortable, an adapted build
ing.
- How amiable are thy tabernacles, o Lord O
Hosts. would rather be doorkeeper in thu
I, house Of my God than to dwell in the tents o
i | Wickedness